Wow, funny how this just popped up in my feed and brought back some great memories. The Nelsons were music friends of mine in our hometown. They had won a monthly round of the Basement Tapes, which allowed them to get to the finals. We were all so happy for them. Part of that was getting $5000 in Yamaha equipment. Well, Yamaha stuff was far more expensive than a lot of other brands. So, they were able to exchange it and get $5000 in Fender equipment, which went a lot further and allowed for them to get more stuff. They didn't win the finals, as you can see. But, the seed had been planted for them. The following year, they had a prime slot at Farm Aid. They began touring with some of the biggest name bands at the time. They strayed away from this look and sound, and became more of an edgy, Texas rock and roll band. They toured a lot, so when they would actually have a show back home, it would sell out immediately. Everyone wanted to go see them. All super cool guys and very talented musicians.
I think I remember them. They have a cool alternative sound that would have fit well on the Valley Girl or Fast Times soundtracks. They go good with the likes of Gary Myrick of Dallas (who was on the Valley Girl soundtrack). One of my favorite DFW bands, speaking of our scene, is Pop Poppins. Would have been cool to see how they would have done on this program.
I remember watching this way back in the day and I thought how awesome would it be to have something like this to happen with our band, I was 16 year's old and I was so naive and stupid to believe it would happen for us. We all started a mail in campaign and sent actual tapes to so many different sources that it end up costing us well over a thousand dollars which was more then the band had made up to that point in time. We all wrote our own music and it was the most fun that I can remember having growing up. Nope we never got our shot a fame and glory but I wouldn't have changed not one thing about how it all turn in life because we all learned that year is if you wanted your dreams to become a reality all we had do is want it more then anything else and no it wasn't the music or the band that learned most about that summer each other and a whole lot of our unrealized dreams. What a great time to be young and not having all the soul sucking technology that's so prevailing today. Thank's MTV for the us giving us something more then money or fame could ever give us.
It was nice to hear how you all worked and suffered so hard, didn't make it but understood it was still a great success because, well basically you lived life well.
Much better than the reality shows like American idol! Unbelievable as hell that MTV would cook up something like this! Especially since MTV was new at this time!
Small world. Greg Kihn was Martha's guest co-host on the February 1985 edition of this show -- the episode that New Man won. They were at some bar. I don't remember the name. I do remember TONS of beautiful women on that round. Too bad I can't find copies of 2 of the losing videos, The Urge - "She's So Cruel" and RUEZ - "Pickin' Up Girls." They were both full of beautiful women. Anyone reading this have those? Let's get 'em up here if you do. Stacy Haiduk (when she was jailbait) and the librarian from Toto's "Africa" were in The Urge video.
Because they didn't. The Pigs at the record companies did the bare minimum of anything with all of the bands that were required to comply with any contracts and legal obligations agreed to with Viacom and MTV network brass. I have had some horrid conversations with a few members of three different bands that were featured on this show.
I'm speechless , WALL OF VOODOO wants some credit for DOG POLICE (they rule) , Glass TARGET had some good vocals, & TRAK SO bad they're actually great , thanks for posting
I watched this very broadcast in 1984. My 8th grade social studies teacher’s son is the drummer for The Nelsons, she urged us all to watch and vote for The Nelsons. Afterwards she was less upset about losing than losing to The Dog Police.
@@MrJeffcoley1 Dude The Nelsons kick ASS! She shouldn't be ashamed at all, The Nelsons have a cult following! I thought they were the most original out of this entire video. Remind me of Split Enz a little.
@@gregm.9061 No, no releases. After they lost semi-finals by 1% of the vote -- they were the first band to lose by 1% of the vote, as I recall -- they were signed to Unicorn Records... who promptly went bankrupt. So their record never came out. And then of course after being called back into action, they bombed finals, so they certainly didn't win another deal. (And Trak's record never came out, either.) The 3 members (Stacie Byrne-Gibbs - vox, Paul Lauer - guitar, Joel Prescott - drums) are still alive, so you can try asking them to put a CD compilation out themselves.
There's something depressing about seeing all of these "never was" bands that got this far then just slowly faded into obscurity. But Dog Police are hilarious.
Final Voting Results TRAK 29% Eddie & The Tide 25% The Nelsons 18% Dog Police 13% Kim & Callahan 13% Glass Target 2% Source: TRAK band wins 1984 MTV Basement Tapes with Dancin' (Video on TH-cam)
FAR more fun than watching overtrained kid-vocalists belt out other people's songs ad infinitum on American Idol...or watching the pantheon of once-wonderful singers humiliate themselves in those costumes before a panel of snarks...
Dog Police are still around. They won this contest but didn't get far afterwards because their whole gimmick was just that, and there wasn't much more to them once that wore off. They could have done well in the '90s, but they were too early to the strange "alternative" scene.
A few years after I saw Dog Police on MTV’s Basement Tapes, there was a mail-order ad on MTV for the band and their products… videos, LPs, cassettes, and other stuff. It also featured excerpts from their videos, including for “Dog Police” and “We Are In The Studio”. I work for a car dealership in the service department, and when I encounter a trade-in vehicle that had previously been driven by a dog custodian (judging by the amount of dog hair in the backseat and the cargo area), I sing the chorus to “Dog Police” as “Dogmobile”
Glass Target's song was really good. I'm surprised they never released any vinyl back in the day (at least according to Discogs). Also, Dog Police was great fun and The Nelsons were pretty cool too.
No one knows who Coney Hatch is in 2023. Hell, outside of Ontario no one knew who Coney Hatch was in 1983. As a headliner they never got off the bar circuit.
I had a drummer who’s overzealous mother thought our band could make a video and become big and famous on Basement Tapes. She basically swindled everyone else’s families out of money to “fund” a video that was never made 😂
Honestly the Glass Target song blows all of the rest out of the water. Their New Wave/Men at Work type sound was a little "past it" by 1984 though. And the female singer was fine-that body yowza.
Glass Target, Eddie and the Tide, The Nelsons (not to be confused with Willie's kids 'Nelson'), the Dog Police, Trakk, and Kim and Kallaghan all could have had some semblance of success in the 80s. The big money went into their videos, something a struggling band needed in the 80s. No doubt members of those groups went-on individually in other bands having success in the 80s and 90s. Yet, my money is on Dog Police doing a reunion tour.
That first band, it's hard to tell if they are entering it for the music contest or for a dance contest. If she would stop jumping around and squirming so much, it would be better, she would stop distracting from the music.
lol. I don’t know how that would work…The guy in the video was probably old enough to have been their father . But when I hit the time code it was hilarious
Brit pop invasion & native usa music during new wave era gave distinc by westrn cowboy ,rock & roll hint"s while the brit always give that little self searching
I guess dog police was the troll vote? wow was that unbelievably awful. the band of youngsters was ahead of their time for the Hansen crowd. Best song was the last band.
lol Dokken? No way man, look at their history, it's way diff from some little mtv basement tapes thing. Anyway, I guess you're thinking of a band called Rail.
Wow, funny how this just popped up in my feed and brought back some great memories. The Nelsons were music friends of mine in our hometown. They had won a monthly round of the Basement Tapes, which allowed them to get to the finals. We were all so happy for them. Part of that was getting $5000 in Yamaha equipment. Well, Yamaha stuff was far more expensive than a lot of other brands. So, they were able to exchange it and get $5000 in Fender equipment, which went a lot further and allowed for them to get more stuff. They didn't win the finals, as you can see. But, the seed had been planted for them. The following year, they had a prime slot at Farm Aid. They began touring with some of the biggest name bands at the time. They strayed away from this look and sound, and became more of an edgy, Texas rock and roll band. They toured a lot, so when they would actually have a show back home, it would sell out immediately. Everyone wanted to go see them. All super cool guys and very talented musicians.
I think I remember them. They have a cool alternative sound that would have fit well on the Valley Girl or Fast Times soundtracks. They go good with the likes of Gary Myrick of Dallas (who was on the Valley Girl soundtrack). One of my favorite DFW bands, speaking of our scene, is Pop Poppins. Would have been cool to see how they would have done on this program.
Sprott is still pumping!!!
RIP Donnie Allison ! 12 years ago at the age of 49. Spott's blues band makes it to the finals in Louisiana lately.
I remember watching this way back in the day and I thought how awesome would it be to have something like this to happen with our band, I was 16 year's old and I was so naive and stupid to believe it would happen for us. We all started a mail in campaign and sent actual tapes to so many different sources that it end up costing us well over a thousand dollars which was more then the band had made up to that point in time. We all wrote our own music and it was the most fun that I can remember having growing up. Nope we never got our shot a fame and glory but I wouldn't have changed not one thing about how it all turn in life because we all learned that year is if you wanted your dreams to become a reality all we had do is want it more then anything else and no it wasn't the music or the band that learned most about that summer each other and a whole lot of our unrealized dreams. What a great time to be young and not having all the soul sucking technology that's so prevailing today. Thank's MTV for the us giving us something more then money or fame could ever give us.
What was your band called, that sounds great that you made effort - it's how many get their lucky break.
so true. the 80s were the best era to be a kid.
Did your band continue in the local scene for awhile?
If you meet a hot chick named Bathsheba, just pass her by.
It was nice to hear how you all worked and suffered so hard, didn't make it but understood it was still a great success because, well basically you lived life well.
Much better than the reality shows like American idol!
Unbelievable as hell that MTV would cook up something like this! Especially since MTV was new at this time!
Eddie& The Tide used to play dances at my high School and were huge in Santa Cruz Ca. Greg Khin helped them out.
Small world. Greg Kihn was Martha's guest co-host on the February 1985 edition of this show -- the episode that New Man won. They were at some bar. I don't remember the name. I do remember TONS of beautiful women on that round. Too bad I can't find copies of 2 of the losing videos, The Urge - "She's So Cruel" and RUEZ - "Pickin' Up Girls." They were both full of beautiful women. Anyone reading this have those? Let's get 'em up here if you do. Stacy Haiduk (when she was jailbait) and the librarian from Toto's "Africa" were in The Urge video.
I recall a band “2B or Not” on this show. The video they made was called “My Polyester”.
Nice! How I miss these days.
40 years later...Wow...I actually remember Dog Police, Nelson, and Trak. I guess I did not destroy as many brain cells as I thought....
RIP Donnie Allison. He was the lead singer of the Nelsons and passed away 12 years ago. His funeral was on this date. 5/28/2011
This was broadcast on Wednesday, April 11, 1984.
I don't remember any band ever making a breakthrough because of winning on Basement Tapes.
I don’t remember this show at all
Because they didn't. The Pigs at the record companies did the bare minimum of anything with all of the bands that were required to comply with any contracts and legal obligations agreed to with Viacom and MTV network brass. I have had some horrid conversations with a few members of three different bands that were featured on this show.
Which three? Guessing Sharks is one of them.
Rail maybe?
Tenacious D? 😂
I'm speechless , WALL OF VOODOO wants some credit for DOG POLICE (they rule) , Glass TARGET had some good vocals, & TRAK SO bad they're actually great , thanks for posting
I watched this very broadcast in 1984. My 8th grade social studies teacher’s son is the drummer for The Nelsons, she urged us all to watch and vote for The Nelsons. Afterwards she was less upset about losing than losing to The Dog Police.
@@MrJeffcoley1 Dude The Nelsons kick ASS! She shouldn't be ashamed at all, The Nelsons have a cult following! I thought they were the most original out of this entire video. Remind me of Split Enz a little.
@@LoneWolfAttack Did Glass Target ever release any records? Can't find any info about them online.
@@gregm.9061 No, no releases. After they lost semi-finals by 1% of the vote -- they were the first band to lose by 1% of the vote, as I recall -- they were signed to Unicorn Records... who promptly went bankrupt. So their record never came out. And then of course after being called back into action, they bombed finals, so they certainly didn't win another deal. (And Trak's record never came out, either.) The 3 members (Stacie Byrne-Gibbs - vox, Paul Lauer - guitar, Joel Prescott - drums) are still alive, so you can try asking them to put a CD compilation out themselves.
I find no Wikipedia article on MTV Basement tapes, and a listing in IMDB lists it as having had one season. So, glad to find this.
Dog Police! A cross between the B-52s and Sparks! 😂
There's something depressing about seeing all of these "never was" bands that got this far then just slowly faded into obscurity.
But Dog Police are hilarious.
That Nelson song "I don't mind" got pretty unhinged towards the end.
Final Voting Results
TRAK 29%
Eddie & The Tide 25%
The Nelsons 18%
Dog Police 13%
Kim & Callahan 13%
Glass Target 2%
Source: TRAK band wins 1984 MTV Basement Tapes with Dancin' (Video on TH-cam)
FAR more fun than watching overtrained kid-vocalists belt out other people's songs ad infinitum on American Idol...or watching the pantheon of once-wonderful singers humiliate themselves in those costumes before a panel of snarks...
I remember two songs. Dog Police and Why can’t I get you out of my head.
This period in time was magic. My early 20’s in San Francisco and cruising the El Camino in San Mateo good times indeed
Martha was so damn cute!
I always preferred her with the short hair
Eddie and the tide were huge in the SF bay area. They had a hit or two.
I looked up the Kim & Callahan video and it only has 173 views on YT. They must’ve completely bombed after this
Dog Police are still around. They won this contest but didn't get far afterwards because their whole gimmick was just that, and there wasn't much more to them once that wore off. They could have done well in the '90s, but they were too early to the strange "alternative" scene.
They didn't even come close to winning - they were 4th (tied with 5th) - Trak won but I hear they got shelved by emi
A few years after I saw Dog Police on MTV’s Basement Tapes, there was a mail-order ad on MTV for the band and their products… videos, LPs, cassettes, and other stuff. It also featured excerpts from their videos, including for “Dog Police” and “We Are In The Studio”.
I work for a car dealership in the service department, and when I encounter a trade-in vehicle that had previously been driven by a dog custodian (judging by the amount of dog hair in the backseat and the cargo area), I sing the chorus to “Dog Police” as “Dogmobile”
Martha Quinn really rocked those first two chords of "Jump".
Basement Tapes was TH-cam before TH-cam
Glass Target's song was really good. I'm surprised they never released any vinyl back in the day (at least according to Discogs). Also, Dog Police was great fun and The Nelsons were pretty cool too.
Martha Quinn was an awesome VJ.
The US answer to Eurovision in the 80s, I really like that
First band was very cool. Remind me of Fitz and the Tantrums meets Devo.
Geez man , Dog Police are too good !
So Trak was kind of the Hanson of the 80s?
Dog Police took the prize. They were from my hometown.
Dog Police came in 2nd. They didn't win.
nope - they came in 4th with 13% of the vote
Who won?
I remember Trak being on here. wow.
Raise your hand if you had a crush on Martha back then 🙋🏻♂️
😍😍❤❤
She was so cute with the short hair later years she kept it long
Bands were putting a lot of hope in $40 Casio keyboards and Roto Toms in '84.
Roto Toms😂. Every kid who had a drum set in the early 80s had to have the Roto Toms.
Trak I seem to remember....
Teleprompter DJ, sad I didn't see it when I was 21, 0' the 80's.
Could we please get an update on Eddie and the Tide??
Great Days !
Trak gives me a Coney Hatch vibe. I can see why they won.
No one knows who Coney Hatch is in 2023. Hell, outside of Ontario no one knew who Coney Hatch was in 1983. As a headliner they never got off the bar circuit.
Yo! Who won?
Glass Target REALLY fuckin loved Men at Work huh haha good shit
Digney Fignus was a Boston Band. I saw them Beacon Theater.
Martha Quinn is so cute.
Rail was on Basement Tapes
Glass Target and Dog Police were sick
Dog police listened to some Sparks me thinks
Even though it’s not easy to find basement in California, the basement tapes sound pretty good
Wasn't there a Hollywood punk venue that was made from a converted underground fallout shelter?
I had a drummer who’s overzealous mother thought our band could make a video and become big and famous on Basement Tapes. She basically swindled everyone else’s families out of money to “fund” a video that was never made 😂
The Nelsons too, there's a weird psychedlia to it. Sounds like it could have come from the 2000's.
girls in sweatsuits!
Honestly the Glass Target song blows all of the rest out of the water. Their New Wave/Men at Work type sound was a little "past it" by 1984 though. And the female singer was fine-that body yowza.
Glass Target, Eddie and the Tide, The Nelsons (not to be confused with Willie's kids 'Nelson'), the Dog Police, Trakk, and Kim and Kallaghan all could have had some semblance of success in the 80s. The big money went into their videos, something a struggling band needed in the 80s. No doubt members of those groups went-on individually in other bands having success in the 80s and 90s. Yet, my money is on Dog Police doing a reunion tour.
Well, the Nelson's can't be there since Donnie Allison passed away 12 years ago from throat or mouth cancer at the age of 49.
@John Patterson
As fun as it is to imagine Nelson as "Willie's kids," they are of course the children of *Ricky* Nelson.
Willie Nelsons kids? you mean Ricky's kids.
You know Julie was wondering if Randy might like this band
Dog Police FTW!
Just making good music was no longer enough , visuals were ,'in' and MTV was soooo popular. Hair and makeup to play on Friday night.
I thought Trak did the best of all on here
The Nelsons for me. And they were from Texas.
i remember a band called young invaders winning this. must if remembered wrong
Soooo...who won? :D
RAIL
Dog Police
trak
I remember Dog Police lol
I can't believe none of these bands made it😂
Glass Target was good
That first band, it's hard to tell if they are entering it for the music contest or for a dance contest. If she would stop jumping around and squirming so much, it would be better, she would stop distracting from the music.
I don't remember this show or any of these bands. That ska band was pretty dope tho.
....that first video was cute...
I hope some of the people in these bands used what they'd learned to go on to better ones. This stuff is kind of sad for me.
Precor to 120mins
17:08 Peter Dinklage and John C. Reilly's illegitimate son! LMAO
lol. I don’t know how that would work…The guy in the video was probably old enough to have been their father . But when I hit the time code it was hilarious
Yikes!!!!!!
I thought Trak had a solid song.
Brit pop invasion & native usa music during new wave era gave distinc by westrn cowboy ,rock & roll hint"s while the brit always give that little self searching
Dog Police, Rotflmao !
I guess dog police was the troll vote? wow was that unbelievably awful. the band of youngsters was ahead of their time for the Hansen crowd. Best song was the last band.
I thought Dokken was the 1st band ever to win basement tapes? I can't find it and I'm 99.99% positive that I'm right
I never heard that before ,but will dig around.
@@Idontwanttopickahandletoday I've looked to no avail and it doesn't indicate it on Wikipedia. So, my mistake
Dokken was the other band that Warner Brothers was looking at when they were looking at Van Halen in 1977.
lol Dokken? No way man, look at their history, it's way diff from some little mtv basement tapes thing. Anyway, I guess you're thinking of a band called Rail.
I'm afraid that just isn't true